The present invention is generally directed to circuit breakers, and in particular, to an improved circuit breaker assembly designed to prevent two cooperating circuit breakers from simultaneously being in the ON position. The present invention is also directed to techniques for modifying a multiple circuit breaker load center to accommodate a variety of circuit breaker configurations. Lastly, the invention is directed to an improved box, and in particular, a rainproof enclosure construction and method of making same.
Circuit breaker assemblies comprising, for example, two back fed main breakers (one line from a standard utility and one line from a generator) are well known in the art. At least one known attempt has been made to construct an assembly such that it is impossible for both circuit breakers to be in the ON position at the same time. Such an inhibiting assembly is typically constructed to permit both circuit breakers to be in the OFF position, while also ensuring that one of the two breakers will always be in the OFF position when the other of the two breakers is in the ON position. However, the known circuit breaker assembly is less than desirable for its lack of adaptation to an assembly in which the two circuit breakers are in facing alignment. That is, the known assembly uses an inhibiting assembly which is only applicable wen the circuit breakers are in a side by side arrangement in which the switches thereof move in the SAME direction to be both ON or to be both OFF.
The circuit breaker assembly art is also deficient for its inability to provide a load center assembly that can easily accommodate a plurality of circuit breaker arrangements with only minimal modifications thereto. That is, for example, to modify a state of the art eight-circuit breaker assembly so as to only accept six operational circuit breakers, it is currently necessary to machine cut a portion of the stab terminal assembly so as to avoid an inadvertent coupling of additional breakers. Because of the different needs of different users, it is desirable to incorporate a rejection arrangement during the molding process of a load center assembly to custom design it to accept varying circuit breaker arrangements and eliminate difficult machining processes to accomplish this result. To date a technique for providing this feature is absent in the art.
Also deficient in the circuit breaker art is the ability to construct a rainproof enclosure that overcomes the problem of water leakage. Presently, the known enclosures which are typically of a three piece construction, will allow water to creep in at the edges. This is due to the construction of the enclosure itself.
Accordingly it is desirable to provide circuit breaker assemblies and circuit breaker enclosures that overcome the aforementioned deficiencies. In particular, it is desirable to provide an inhibiting assembly which can easily be incorporated into a circuit breaker assembly where the circuit breakers are in facing alignment and which inhibits the breakers from simultaneously being on. It is also desirable to mold a saddle assembly which satisfies an end user""s needs in a more economical and efficient manner. Lastly, it is desirable to provide a rainproof enclosure construction that eliminates water seepage. The invention disclosed herein achieve the aforementioned and below mentioned objectives.
Generally speaking, in accordance with the present invention, a circuit breaker assembly is provided. In the preferred embodiment, the assembly comprises a first circuit breaker having a toggle switch assembly movable between a first position and a second position, the movement of the toggle switch assembly from the first position to the second position being in a first direction, a second circuit breaker having a toggle switch assembly movable between a first position and a second position, the movement of the toggle switch assembly from the first position to the second position being in the same direction as the first direction and inhibitor connectors for preventing the toggle switch assembly of the first circuit breaker from being in the second position when the toggle switch assembly of the second circuit breaker is in the first position.
In another aspect of the present invention, a process for molding a saddle base is provided. In the preferred embodiment, the process includes the steps of providing a mold for forming a saddle base capable of releasably securing n circuit breakers thereon, determining an undesirable number of circuit breakers for which it is undesirable to mount on the saddle base, wherein the undesirable number is less than n, and integrally molding a selected number of rejection blocks to the saddle base during the molding of the saddle base to prevent the undesirable number of circuit breakers from being secured to the saddle base.
Lastly, in another aspect of the present invention, an improved raintight enclosure is provided. In the preferred embodiment, the enclosure comprises first, second, third and fourth side walls, and a bottom and top side. The first, second and third side walls and the bottom side are integrally formed and the first and second side walls include overlapping sides. The enclosure is formed by defining a unique slot configuration thereby defining the first and second side walls and the two overlapping sides, bending the first and second side walls along predetermined bend lines, bending the first and second overlapping sides along other predetermined bend lines and bending the third side wall along a third predetermined bend line, securing together the side walls and the overlapping sides as well as the fourth side wall and a top to the enclosure and providing that the overlapping sides, which will include respective overlapping areas, overlap any gap formed between the side walls.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved inhibiting assembly for a circuit breaker assembly.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an inhibiting assembly for a circuit breaker assembly that ensures the inadvertent simultaneous turning ON of two circuit breakers.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an inhibiting assembly for a circuit breaker assembly in which the circuit breakers are in facing alignment.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an inhibiting assembly that is easily installable in a circuit breaker assembly.
Another object of the present invention is to construct a circuit breaker or load center assembly that will prevent undesirable circuit breakers from being mounted thereon.
Yet another object of the present invention is to more economically and efficiently custom design a circuit breaker assembly for an end user.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide both a six-breaker and an eight breaker assembly with only minor modifications being needed to the saddle base mold to provide the six-breaker version.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a rainproof enclosure that eliminates water seepage at the edges thereof.
Still another object of the present invention is to construct the rainproof enclosure from a unitary steel construction without undesirable rework.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.